


hot and cold in strangers’ eyes

by ohvictor



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Day At The Beach, Drabble, Dysphoria, Fluff, Other, Trans Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-21
Updated: 2015-10-21
Packaged: 2018-04-27 10:05:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5044144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohvictor/pseuds/ohvictor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Like my outfit, Akaashi?”</p>
<p>Akaashi takes nis time pulling up nis swim trunks and tying the little elastic lace at the front, and then steps out of nis room and rounds the partition into the side area where Kuroo is changing. Ze’s sporting a little black sports bra with the red swim trunks ze had worn yesterday, and the combination is flashy but it looks good, which matches Kuroo well.</p>
            </blockquote>





	hot and cold in strangers’ eyes

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this for [bishop](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kastron) a while back and didn't want it to fade away, so here it is! a cute little beach visit featuring gender stuff bc it's me, how could i not. vaguely references bishop's fic [threads](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3667380) at one point which you should all read instead of this fic tbh. kuroo and akaashi are both nonbinary in this; kuroo uses ze/zir pronouns, and akaashi uses ne/nym/nis pronouns. i still can't decide if it's shippy or not. title is from "honey sun" by elbow.

“Like my outfit, Akaashi?”

Akaashi takes nis time pulling up nis swim trunks and tying the little elastic lace at the front, and then steps out of nis room and rounds the partition into the side area where Kuroo is changing. Ze’s sporting a little black sports bra with the red swim trunks ze had worn yesterday, and the combination is flashy but it looks good, which matches Kuroo well.

“Tasteful,” says Akaashi, dry, because ne can’t let Kuroo look good without poking a little fun.

“Always,” says Kuroo, and turns on zir heel with a flourish, showing off whatever curves ze thinks ze has. The sports bra hangs in the wrong places, but only when Akaashi’s really looking.

“I’m wearing it,” Kuroo decides, hands on zir hips, and Akaashi knows to listen for the request in that statement.

“Okay.” Ne nods and turns towards the door again. “Are you going to put on sunscreen? Or do you want to get a sports bra tan?”

“You know, that does sound sort of appealing,” says Kuroo, waggling zir eyebrows, and Akaashi leaves zir to it, going to grab beach towels from the closet.

\--

Ze was all confidence back in their room at the inn, but as they walk down the path to the beach, Akaashi can see Kuroo’s grip on zir bag tighten, zir shoulders hunching almost imperceptibly as if trying to hide zir bra. Of course it’s futile, and Kuroo’s smile stays as unflinchingly bright as ever, but Akaashi knows an upsurge of insecurity when ne sees it.

They make it down to the beach proper and lay out their towels, but Kuroo declines Akaashi’s rather reluctant offer to go down into the water, flopping on zir towel instead and digging in the bag they brought for zir book. Akaashi settles cross-legged on nis own towel, watching the curve of Kuroo’s back, bent lower than necessary to shield zir page from the bright sunlight, or using that as an excuse, at least.

Worry twists in Akaashi’s gut. It was Kuroo, after all, who had taken Akaashi shopping for clothes the first time--any clothes ne wanted. Kuroo had bought Akaashi nis first nail polish, recommended nis first lipstick, persisted until Akaashi had started to explore nis gender expression, and ze had been almost obnoxiously comfortable with zir own presentation the whole way. Now, Akaashi might only be wearing last week’s chipped nail polish along with swim trunks ne’d had since ne was thirteen, but ne still looks the more comfortable of the two, despite Kuroo’s mismatched androgynous swimwear and zir own, more recent nail polish application. The role reversal is unexpected and, as much as Akaashi wants to be the effortlessly confident one sometimes, ne doesn’t want it like this.

Ne sits there chewing nis lip for a little while, as Kuroo looks increasingly pained by zir curled posture. Finally, Akaashi gets to nis feet. “I’ll be right back.”

“Huh? Okay,” says Kuroo, barely looking up.

Akaashi goes back up the path to where several vendor stands have been set up. When ne buys a small hair bow from one of them, the vendor asks nym if it’s for nis sister, making Akaashi stammer out a “no” and then hand over nis money and hurry away. Ne feels bad for that moment of insecurity, so ne makes sure to fasten the bow onto nis hair, already getting unruly from the humid beach air, well in sight of the vendor. After that, ne heads back to where ne left Kuroo.

“What’s that?” Kuroo asks, and then understands. Something in zir eyes softens, even when ze grumbles and tosses zir book aside. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“I wasn’t sure what to do,” Akaashi says, nearly stammering over that truth as well, and Kuroo laughs.

“You know I could have just taken this off, if I was that uncomfortable. I thought about it. But I’m not uncomfortable with having it on. I don’t really like how it looks, but I didn’t know how to pad it, since it’s going to get wet.” Kuroo picks up zir book and fiddles with the cover. “I just need to, y’know. Not look down.”

Dysphoria, then. Akaashi is glad ne hadn’t said anything about the bra hanging wrong on zir. “You’re probably right about padding. We didn’t bring much. Maybe if we find seashells, we could stuff them in there.”

Kuroo laughs, short and loud like it was startled out of zir. “Too pointy!”

“People put seashells in their bras for safekeeping all the time. Totally normal. Plus it’s got mermaid vibes.” Akaashi maintains a blank expression as Kuroo keeps laughing. “I’m serious, Kuroo-san. If we find some of those nice big scallop shells, we could make you a nice mermaid bra.”

“Do they even have those at this beach?” says Kuroo, but the laughter has reached zir eyes now, and Akaashi feels a little reassured.

“You’ll have to look and see,” ne says, shrugging cryptically, and Kuroo groans.

“Okay.” Ze tucks zir book back into the beach bag and hauls zirself to zir feet. “Let’s go look.” Ze reaches down to flick the bow on Akaashi’s hair, affectionate, and Akaashi grumbles as ne gets to nis feet. “Hands off.”

“Yeah,” says Kuroo, reaching for Akaashi’s hand. Akaashi gives it, and they head off down the beach, toes sinking into the sand.

 

 


End file.
